


Atomic Galaxy

by Mikari



Category: Atomic Betty
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 22:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1581563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikari/pseuds/Mikari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Atomic Betty short stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Atomic Galaxy

Atomic Galaxy

Planet 01: The Dimension Where Things Get Lost

Our story starts in the peaceful, quiet and calm depths of space. "Minimus!" A voice echoed all over the area defying the laws of physics because a sound, however loud, should not be heard where there's no air. Okay. so maybe it's not so peaceful, quiet or calm. "Where is it?" The same voice asked. It appeared to be coming from some sort of space base with a very original design. The place was known to many as Maximus IQ's Lair. "I can't find it!" The voice belonged to Maximus, who was quite upset over a lost item.

"What are you looking for your evilness?" His sidekick, the unique two faced alien, Minimus PU asked.

"Why did it take you so long to get here?" Maximus complained before even saying why he called Minimus in the first place.

"It took me a while to navigate around this mess," Minimus replied with his normal face. "I hope you get lost in it!" His angry face added.

The lair was a mess of random items that had been thrown in every direction. It looked like a hurricane had been trapped in there, but it was in fact Maximus desperately searching for a very important item he had misplaced. "I can't find the TV's remote control!" The lynx super villain made it sound as if his very life depended on it.

Minimus sighed hopelessly. "You could simply use the buttons on the TV to change channels."

Maximus looked horrified, as if Minimus had said a every terrible thing. "Are you insane? Who would do such a thing? I can't get up very time there's a boring commercial on! I need the remote control. I need it! I need it! I need it!" Maximus jumped as he repeated this over and over. A temper tantrum had started and Minimus was not looking forward to it.

"Calm down your impatientness I'm sure you can find it." Minimus desperately tried to calm Maximus. If only he used that kind of energy to fight Atomic Betty she'd be in for a real challenge.

"I already looked everywhere and it's not here," Maximus' temper tantrum appeared to quiet down a little and now he had a sad kitten look. His precious remote control was gone and he would never see it again.

"We can buy another one," Minimus suggested. That was a mistake.

Maximus had a deadly glare that would make Atomic Rodger grow hair from the scare if he saw it. "What did you say?" Maximus asked in a serious and accusing tone.

Minimus gulped and backed away slowly. "No, nothing your evilness."

"I don't want one of those hard to program generic remote controls; I want my remote control back!" Maximus yelled.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile on Earth, Betty heard the faint sound of the echo of someone yelling about a remote control. She gazed out the window from her classroom and curiously looked up at the sky. That voice kind of sounded like Maximus, but it couldn't be him. She shook her head and turned her attention to her notes. Today's lesson was so boring she was imagining things. She continued drawing doodles as time continued to pass painfully slow.

xoxox xox xoxox

Back at the lair, an explosion was heard, followed by a female scream. "It came from the kitchen," Minimus rushed over.

"What was it?" Maximus curiously followed. He postponed his remote control search for a moment to go find out what was happening in the kitchen.

Upon arriving, they found that the kitchen was covered in a strange sticky stuff. "It's ruined!" Chef Bernadette, who was also covered in the peach colored sticky stuff, cried.

"What is that stuff?" Maximus curiously inquired.

"This was going to be a masterpiece of a cake. It was going to be a true work of art. You're not supposed to make noise while it's being prepared, but I knew keeping a certain someone quiet would be impossible. So instead I put a sound shield around the oven, but it got overloaded by a certain some one and this was the result" Bernadette was obviously referring to Maximus.

"See what you did Minimus? You ruined the cake!" Maximus hit the sidekick on the head.

"Ouch! It wasn't me," Minimus complained.

"It was you!" Bernadette pointed at Maximus. She was not one bit happy about her work being ruined.

"It couldn't have possibly been me. My voice is like a song that would make the cake even yummier." There was a moment of silence after Maximus voice his narcissistic self opinion, in which both Bernadette and Minimus gave him an odd look.

"Call me when you find the remote control, until then I'm on vacation." Bernadette stomped out of the kitchen to get herself cleaned up before leaving. Maybe after Maximus found his precious remote control, his level of annoyance would go back to normal.

"But who's going to make my food?" Maximus called after the chef.

"That's not my problem!" Bernadette yelled.

With the chef gone, that left the lair with Maximus, Minimus and Maximus' army, all of which was suffering from a severe headache caused by their evil leader. "Clean up this mess!" Maximus ordered. Minimus had no choice but to start cleaning the kitchen, while listening to the insistent ringing in his ears.

xoxox xox xoxox

Maximus returned to the livingroom to his search for the remote control. He threw several items out of the way until he found a couch buried deep under them and sat down. He tried to concentrate and retrace his steps. What did he do with the TV's remote control? He closed his eyes and focused. His entire day played like a movie in his mind.

It all started when the alarm clock sounded off that morning. Maximus was still sleepy so instead of getting up he threw it across the room. Then Minimus came to wake him up, knowing that if he didn't Maximus would be angry. But Maximus was angry anyway and unfortunately Minimus suffered the same fate as that poor alarm clock.

Finally, Maximus got up and followed the same routine that people usually follow in the morning. Except he accidentally swallowed some tooth paste, that was certainly not a part of the daily routine. He blamed it on Minimus, who wasn't even there at the time.

Bernadette made breakfast and Maximus ate it. So far it looked like another ordinary day. After breakfast, Maximus watched some TV. He remembered he had the remote control then. He was going to watch something that afternoon and wanted to make sure he didn't lose it. What did he do with it?

"Your evilness I'm done cleaning the kitchen," Minimus was used to cleaning and finished pretty quickly.

"You idiot!" Maximus threw a near by lamp at Minimus. "I was about to remember what happened with the remote control and you made me break my concentration!"

"Sorry your evilness," Minimus' normal face apologized. "I hope you break a few bones next time," his angry face added before he could stop it.

"You!" Maximus pointed at Minimus.

Maximus's finger was so close, that Minimus took some time to notice the sharp claw attached to it, which for some unknown reason he didn't notice before. "I didn't mean to say that your evilness. I'm your loyal sidekick!"

"Shut up!" Maximus yelled. "Don't you play innocent I know why you didn't want me to remember what happened to the remote control. You took it!"

"No, I didn't!" Minimus hopelessly tried to defend himself.

"Don't lie! I know you have it. Where are you hiding it?" Maximus insisted.

"I didn't do it! Honest! I didn't take it!" Minimus tried to say.

"You will return the remote control immediately or else," Maximus aimed a laser gun at Minimus.

Minimus jumped back. "I didn't do it!"

"I'm not going to believe that!" Maximus was stubborn as always.

"But it's true!" Minimus backed away into a corner, trapped.

Then Maximus randomly remembered something, he put the remote in his robe so he wouldn't lose it. "The remote control, I know where it is!"

Minimus took a deep breath as if he had been holding it all that time. "I told you I didn't," he stopped. Saying I told you so might not be such a good idea. "I'm happy you remembered what happened to it your evilness."

"Here it is!" Maximus said as he pulled out an onana from his sleeve. "I don't remember putting that there," he threw the fruit.

Minimus caught the fruit and ate it, it was like a combination between an orange and banana. Then Maximus pulled countless cards out. "No wonder he always wins," Minimus grumbled.

"I know it's in here," Maximus kept searching and soon there was a large pile of weapons all around him, including laser guns, light sabers, explosive devices and many other things.

How in the world did Maximus manage to carry all those things in his robe, nobody knew. Perhaps it was made of a high tech or magical material that allowed him to carry more things that could actually fit in it according to the laws of logic. Not even Minimus knew.

"No, that's not it," Maximus pulled out a Max Land plushie. "Another one?" More Max Land plushies were thrown into a pile. There was a pair of ducky slippers, a pair of bunny slippers and another pair of ducky slippers. An Atomic Betty doll with the words 'I'm stupid' written on her forehead, a crown, a toy space ship, a yoyo, a Maximus keychain with keys that he thought were long lost, a computer mouse, sunglasses, a bottle of Busy Maxx and a bag of cat treats illegally imported from a pre-contact planet called Earth.

It wasn't over, Maximus continued emptying the contents of his robe, everything except for himself. There was the head of another Atomic Betty doll, a picture of Maximus with his autograph, the headless body of the Atomic Betty doll, a melted popsicle luckily still inside it's plastic bag, a scented candle, a lighter, a few candies, a bag of lynxian chips and countless other random items. "Found it!" Maximus announced victoriously, holding up the TV's remote control.

"I didn't know you carried that many things in there," Minimus was astonished. "No wonder the laundry is so heavy," he grumbled. Minimus never really tried to empty the clothes, he just threw them in the washing machine as they were.

"Maybe I should finish emptying it and see what I need and I don't need to carry." Maximus set the remote control aside and continued pulling things out of his robe. A mouse pad with his picture, a fur brush, a framed picture of himself, a few disks, a rubber ducky, a paper airplane, a pen, a pencil, a little notebook, his autobiography, a photo album full of pictures of him, some batteries and a ball of yarn.

Wait, a ball of yarn? Oh, oh, this might take a while. Maximus started playing with the yarn until he got tangled up in it and Minimus had to come to his rescue. That didn't work out very well, because Minimus got trapped too and it took some time for them to get free.

Once they escaped from the yarn, Maximus continued taking random items out of his robe including a spoon, a bowling ball, a hammer, a package he forgot to mail and a few other things. "I think that's all of it. I wonder what kind of things I left in my other robes. I guess I'll have to empty those some day too and see what's in there. Minimus pick up these things and organize them." Something important then came to Maximus attention. "Where's the TV's remote control?"

Minimus froze, "I thought you had it."

"I put it somewhere around here," Maximus realized it must have been buried in all the junk and once again lost. "Find it quick, before the show starts!"

"What are you going to watch?" Minimus asked as he started his search.

"It's a special about Atomic Betty's greatest battles, I must be in it. Less talking and more searching, find it!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Planet 02: The Supreme Emperor and the Seed

Today felt like it was longer than any other day. The day endlessly dragged on and Maximus thought that night would never come. He moved towards his bed in slow small steps, trying to stay awake long enough to get there. He climbed on the bed and let himself fall on it once he was on top.

Maximus' bed was a tall mountain of soft mattresses and pillows and the galaxy was in complete silence tonight, so he should have no trouble sleeping, but there was something that kept him awake. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep, but still something bothered him. He moved the pillows away, searching for any kind of small item that didn't belong there, but found none.

Once again, Maximus tried to sleep, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't fall asleep. He was certainly tired and everything was in silence, but there was something on the bed that bothered him. He threw the pillows out of the way and pulled off the sheet. He expected to find the cause of his problem there, but there was nothing there, save for the soft mattress.

Maximus jumped off his bed and landed on his feet. The bed looked comfortable, but he felt as if there was something right in the middle poking him, except it felt more like it was stabbing him like a knife, but there was nothing there.

"Minimus!" Maximus called for his sidekick, his voice echoing in the silence of the lair.

"Yes your sleepy evilness?" A sleepy Minimus stood at the door; he thought Maximus had fallen asleep by now.

"I can't sleep!" As soon as Maximus informed him of the dilemma, Minimus came up with various alternatives to solve the problem. He tried everything from milk to lullabies, but Maximus was still awake.

"Shut up!" Maximus threw a pillow at Minimus. "You're a horrible singer! The real problem is that my bed isn't soft enough."

Minimus looked at the bed, it looked soft enough. He climbed on the bed to try it out and it was very comfortable. It was in fact so soft and comfortable that Minimus fell asleep. The sidekick woke up when Maximus kicked him and he fell on the floor. "Ow! The bed is very soft, you should have no trouble falling asleep your evilness!" Than his angry face added, "rest in peace."

"There's something under it, it's something small but hard. Get it out!" Maximus started to throw a temper tantrum.

Minimus had cleaned up the room today and for that he had to move the bed. It had been a mess because the tower of mattresses and pillows fell, but he placed everything where it belonged, so there should be no problem.

While Minimus searched for whatever was keeping Maximus awake, Maximus noticed a strange looking plant that wasn't there before. "What is this thing?"

"It's a plant your evilness," Minimus replied, "I thought it looked nice."

"I don't like it," Maximus frowned and walked over to where the bed was, or at least the bottom mattress, since his bed was all over the room at the moment. Minimus wondered why he needed that many mattresses and pillows anyway. When Minimus lifted the very last mattress to look under it, Maximus saw something. "What is that little thing there?"

Minimus picked up what Maximus was pointing at. "It's a seed your evilness, but it's so small I don't think this is the cause of the problem. I'm sure you can't even feel it."

Maximus snatched the seed away from his sidekick, threw it on the floor and jumped on it many times. "How dare you keep me awake you worthless seed!" He kicked Minimus out of the room, sending him crashing into a wall. "This is your fault for putting that ugly thing here!" Maximus picked up the potted plant and threw it at Minimus, who luckily was able to jump out of the way at the last second. Then Maximus closed the door, picked a random mattress to sleep on, grabbed the first pillow he saw and finally fell asleep.

"I hope you have nightmares!" Minimus' angry face grumbled out in the hall. Then he started to clean up the mess Maximus made when he threw the potted plant. All that trouble over a seed? It couldn't be, it just couldn't, but why did the situation sound so familiar? Minimus remembered a story he heard long ago about a princess and a pea.

Maybe Maximus was the long lost prince of somewhere? No, that couldn't be. But then how could a tiny seed keep him awake? Minimus decided not to think about it anymore. Sometimes with Maximus, things didn't make sense and there was no point in trying to make sense out of them.

xoxox xox xoxox

Planet 03: Her First Day in Outer Space

A loud crash was heard and the ship shook violently, almost spinning out of control. Maximus engaged the stabilizers and hit the breaks. "Are we alive?" Minimus was hiding under his chair.

"Of course you're alive," Maximus snapped. "We're here, now I just need to get the ship in there." He pointed to the space where he was supposed to park the ship. His piloting skills would improve greatly in the next few years and those who had seen him pilot a space ship in the future, could only imagine how he did in the past. Without accelerating too much, Maximus guided the ship to the proper place with only a few scratches on the garage walls and ship. "That wasn't so bad." The young lynx left the ship, followed by his sidekick.

"Maximus IQ!" A furious voice came from the main building.

"I didn't think he would be back so soon!" Maximus analyzed the situation and any possible ways of escape.

"I told you we shouldn't have taken your father's new ship while he was at the super villain reunion," Minimus's normal face said. "You never listen to me!" His angry face complained.

"Shut up and get back in the ship!" Maximus kicked Minimus inside.

He saw his father opening the door that connected the ship's garage area with the main house. The reason he had decided to take his old ship along instead of the new one was because he had to pass by an area full of meteors and didn't wan to scratch it. His son was still a super villain in training and he didn't want to take him to the more professional villain meetings until he was ready, so he was to stay on planet Splatty. The problem was that he had taken his father's new ship while he was away and caused more damage than any meteor could have. "Get out of that ship right now!"

Maximus set the ship in reverse and crashed against a large tree, not before taking the fence with him. "You're supposed to go up!" He battled with the controls some more, until the ship took off and left Splatty's atmosphere. "There's no way dad will catch us in the old ship."

"But wouldn't stealing his ship twice in the same day make him even angrier?" Minimus asked.

"I'm not stealing it, I'm borrowing it because the one I got for my birthday is broken," Maximus hit Minimus on the head. His own ship was in fact very broken after the way he flew it. "Besides, dad only needs a little time to calm down and by the time we're back, he won't be angry anymore." It was the natural choice; procrastinate until there is no other choice.

Maximus continued pressing random buttons, trying to find which one was the radio, but instead sent the ship to hyper space, throwing it far away from Splatty. His first reaction was to hit the accelerator, which was probably not a good idea. "Your evilness watch out for that planet!" Minimus screamed as they approached Earth in a collision course.

xoxox xox xoxox

In a day care center in Moose Jaw Heights, Canada. A little girl about three years old with badly cut red hair and big green eyes approached the other children to play a game. Her grandmother was busy with work in a place far away. Her father was on a business trip and her mother was at a pet show. Betty's mother went to cat shows even before Sir Purrsefus was born and she didn't think she should take Betty along. She was too young to understand. But the little girl was a lot smarter than she was given credit for.

Another little girl of the same age pointed at her and laughed. She had brown hair and brown eyes, her name was Penelope. "Ugly hair," she let out a high pitched mocking giggle.

Betty touched her short red hair, which her mother had recently unevenly cut. She had tried to put her daughter's hair into pigtails and only a little of it was long enough for that. She still put two big bows on Betty's head, hoping to hide the problem. It looked truly like a nightmare. "Meany!" Little Betty retorted.

Two other little girls stood beside Penelope. "No like," Sarah pointed.

Megan nodded, "we no play with you."

Penelope laughed again. "Yucky!" She pushed the red haired girl.

Betty stumbled backwards but didn't fall. She wasn't going to let Penelope insult her. Without warning she tackled her, getting the attention of the adults in the day care center. "No! Bad Betty!" A woman picked her up. Ironically she hadn't noticed when Penelope was being mean.

Realizing that Betty was in trouble, Penelope decided to make it worse. "Wah!" She cried loudly in a voice that almost made glass shatter. "I got a boo-boo!"

Soon Sarah and Megan joined in, claiming that they too had acquired boo-boos and it was all Betty's fault. The result was that Betty got a time out in the corner, while Penelope got all the attention from the grownups.

"Meany head!" Betty called out from her corner, but gained nothing but an extra five minutes of time out. She sighed sadly, if only there was something she could do. Penelope loved attention. The best way to get back at her and make sure she didn't bother her about her hair anymore, was to have a hair style better than Penelope's that would get all the attention. But how was she going to achieve that?

xoxox xox xoxox

On Earth's atmosphere, Maximus' ship continued to plunge into the planet, trapped in its gravity. "We're going to die!" Minimus yelled. "It's all your fault!" His angry face added.

"I'm too perfect to die!" Maximus tried to get the ship under control.

The ship spun around and Maximus managed to hold on to the controls, but Minimus was thrown around the ship and landed on the controls activating the beam. They were flying above Betty's day care center when Maximus regained control of the ship, just as the beam was activated. They picked up a red haired little girl who had been sitting alone in a corner before they left Earth's atmosphere.

"I told you I had everything under control," Maximus started to regain his normal color. "I wasn't scared. You're such a coward Minimus."

Before the sidekick could communicate his sarcastic reply, another voice was heard. "Plushie!" A little human girl ran to Maximus and hugged him.

He looked at the strange creature, they must have picked her up by accident in that planet. "Since you're here I might as well keep you as a pet."

"Your evilness, I don't think your father would like it if you kept that thing as your pet," Minimus warned.

"He doesn't need to know, I'll keep her hidden," Maximus replied. "But look at that hair, I need to take her to one of those places for pets so they can turn her into a pet worthy of me." It was decided and while they traveled on autopilot, Maximus tried to teach his new pet some tricks. "Roll over and I'll buy some pet cookies for you when we arrive."

Betty simply stared at him. "My plushie," she pointed.

"Look, it's like this," Maximus demonstrated what roll over meant by doing it himself.

Betty approached while he was still on the floor and patted his head, "good plushie." Minimus found it quite funny because it looked like he was her pet, but he stopped laughing when Maximus kicked him across the room. "Meany, time out!" Betty pointed to a corner.

Maximus didn't quite understand what she meant, but he didn't pay attention. To him those were only random words she said, after all, she was only a pet. He recognized her species as the same species as Beatrixo, but still he insisted on keeping her as a pet anyway.

The ship's computer announced they had arrived at their destination and after a short trip to the pet salon, Betty's hair grew back with a special shampoo and she was given a good haircut. Her hair was styled in a very different way from anything normally found on Earth but it looked good.

After some time walking around the mall where the pet salon was, Maximus and Minimus returned to pick her up. "This be no business of mine to intrude in where thou found this creature. But me has observed that the creature is not like most pets. Arth thou sure she be a pet and not a child of alien species?" The hair stylist at the salon had asked.

"Of course she's a pet," Maximus assured. Soon after that, they headed back to Splatty with little Betty and many bags full of pet food and pet toys.

xoxox xox xoxox

Maximus' father was of course still angry when his son returned and letting him keep a pet was out of the question, especially one that reminded him of Beatrixo. "Put that creature back where you found it, or better yet destroy it! I don't want you bringing filthy animals to the house, it's enough that I let you keep Minimus around."

"But father, she's my pet and Minimus is my sidekick! I'm keeping her no matter what you say!" Maximus originally planned to sneak in, but his father saw him and discovered Betty.

"Absolutely not!" Maximus Sr. yelled.

"Why not? I'll feed her, I'll walk her, I'll play with her. You won't have to do anything!" Maximus complained.

"Sure you're attached to her now that she's little, but you'll probably get bored of her when she grows up. Besides, she looks like a child of Beatrixo's species more than a pet," Max Sr. pointed out.

Maximus stopped to think about it. What if his father was right? He knew that the creature was in fact of Beatrixo's species, but he thought he could still get away with keeping her for a pet. She was small, like many pet creatures are, and she didn't speak many words. But what if she got older and became his enemy? What if she grew up to be like Beatrixo? No that wouldn't happen, "I'm keeping her!" Maximus picked up his pet and went to his room.

Minimus followed, carrying the bags. "Wait for me, your evilness!"

"Fine, but if that thing leaves your room, it's going to have an unpleasant encounter with my light saber. Don't come out of there till the next century, you're grounded!" Max Sr. angrily yelled.

xoxox xox xoxox

Betty spent a while playing with the pet toys while Maximus watched TV. He still kept an eye on her during the commercials. She had seen her reflection in a mirror at the pet salon and knew Penelope would be jealous if she saw her now. Maybe the plushie would take her back later. He couldn't really be keeping her as a pet, right? He must be kidding. She decided to give it some time and continued playing for a while until she had something to say, "hungry."

"You have food over there," Maximus pointed at a can of pet food, but little Betty didn't move.

"Your evilness I don't think she can get the food out of the can by herself," Minimus reasoned.

"Well don't just stand there, go get a can opener and feed her!" Maximus kicked Minimus out of the room.

"Ow! But I thought you were going to take care of her," Minimus complained. "Just as I thought, I'll end up doing all the work," his angry face complained.

"Hurry!" Maximus yelled.

Minimus ran off in search of a can opener. After he returned and put some pet food in a dish, he waited for Betty to eat it. "She's not eating, your evilness."

"I thought you said you were hungry," Maximus recalled. "Well go on Maxine, eat your food."

"Maxine?" Minimus asked.

"That's her name," as usual, Maximus named everything after himself. "That reminds me of something," he searched inside the bags until he found her collar and put it around her neck. It had diamonds and golden tags with something written in symbols used in Lynxia and Splatty.

"Thank-yu plushie," Betty said. Then she curiously looked at the food. It didn't look anything like what she normally ate. She didn't know that in a few years, she would have to get used to the occasional cat food for lunch when her mother was distracted. "Yucky!" Clearly, she didn't like the food. Her eyes started to water thinking, that she would have to eat the food she didn't like. Her mother made her eat her cooking even if it didn't turn out very well. But the plushie wouldn't do that, would he? No, he was nice. He even gave her a pretty necklace.

"Now what?" Maximus asked.

"I think she doesn't like it and she's going to cry," Minimus theorized.

"What? I don't want some crying creature here," Maximus realized that having a pet was a lot more work than he expected. Maybe he wasn't ready for the responsibility. "Maybe I should leave the pet experience for later..." Maybe her food was only found on her planet and that's where she needed to be to survive. "C'mon Maxine, I'm returning you to your wild uncivilized world." Maximus didn't know the name of the planet, but he remembered its location. 

Once again he stole his father's ship while Max Sr. yelled at him that he was supposed to stay in his room because he was grounded, but Maximus didn't pay attention. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Maximus returned to that place he had almost crashed into. That was where she belonged. "Goodbye Maxine."

"Bye bye plushie, see you again!" Betty waved. 

Maximus didn't think he would see her again, but he didn't say anything about that, he was surprised she managed to speak a complete sentence. 

Betty was beamed down back into the day care center where she was ignored and Penelope got all the attention, that was why no one noticed she was gone. It was time to eat and the people in charge of taking care of the children finally realized there was one missing. "There she is. C'mon little girl time out is over you need to eat now." 'That's odd I don't remember her having such nice hair and such a cute necklace,' the babysitter thought. "Your mommy must be excellent with hair."

As Betty sat at the table all the children looked at her and Penelope looked surprised. That hair! How did she get better hair than hers? She had a necklace too. How could she have better jewelry? It was Betty's first victory against Penelope and her first trip to outer space. It was the start of a rivalry between Betty and Penelope and it was also the day Betty started to look forward to exploring the universe she only briefly saw. Her grandmother had told her she would take her to far away places when she was old enough; she hoped the time came soon. 

When the time came and Betty became a galactic guardian, the events of that day were long forgotten. Betty didn't remember that she had claimed Maximus as her plushie years ago and Maximus didn't remember that he had captured Betty and briefly kept her as a pet before she became a galactic guardian. Maybe some things aren't meant to be remembered, but none the less they happened.

xoxox xox xoxox

Planet 04: Minions

"Your evilness, wait for me," Minimus struggled to keep up with Maximus, who was leaving in quite a hurry. 

It was the middle of the night and the artificial day and night system made that fact apparent, even if they were in space. The light inside the lair didn't look like it came from everywhere and nowhere like it did during the day and it wasn't as bright. Instead it concentrated in one point of origin in the center of the ceiling of each room, leaving the corners in darkness and making the light purposely look artificial. 

What possessed Maximus to get up in the middle of the night and prepare to leave in an unplanned extended trip? Minimus did not know and obviously Maximus wasn't telling. He had made that clear when Minimus tried to ask and the lynx hit him on the head without saying a single word.

"Stay here," Maximus ordered suddenly, as he arrived at the lair's hangar and threw a large suitcase inside his ship. He didn't even bother telling Minimus to pack for him or carry his luggage. He was obviously in a big hurry if he did all of that himself.

The sidekick nodded and backed way. He was used to following Maximus everywhere except the bathroom, so it was quite strange that he would leave and not take the sidekick along. Minimus was like his second shadow, but this time Maximus' tone made it clear he wanted to go alone and there would be no arguing about it.

"If anything happens, send the robot army to defend the lair. Other than that, keep a low profile for now and don't get the attention of the galactic guardians while I'm away. Don't call me, don't ask where I'm going or when I'll be back, and my lair better be alright when I return." The platform Maximus stood on was closed and he was alone in his ship.

Minimus backed away, knowing that the ship would soon take off and it wasn't wise to stand so close. Just as he thought, the ship took off in a hurry and sped away into the depths of space.

xoxox xox xoxox

Maximus examined a map of several galaxies as his recent dream replayed in his mind. The dreams he had been having were similar to what happened only a few days ago. Each dream took place on a different setting, but every time the basic story was the same. He had Atomic Betty cornered. He was about to win, but then his army betrayed him. They attacked him instead of Atomic Betty and she claimed victory from where she should have received defeat. 

He could simply offer a large amount of money and intergalactic treasures to his ex-minions and they would become his minions again, yet somehow that didn't feel right. He wasn't going to sit there and tolerate being betrayed and laughed at. A bribe wasn't the best solution to this situation, revenge was. Maximus would find a much stronger army and those who betrayed him shall pay. He laughed evilly at the thought of it. Yes, everything would go according to plan.

He chose a galaxy known for its strong warriors as his first destination. He decided he would visit many places accepting as his minions only the best and most skilled of each planet. He parked his ship in an area designated for space ships and went to look around. Everyone there carried a weapon no matter how young or old. They were all skilled warriors, the best in the universe. They were also known for taking orders from no one; however, Maximus thought they should be honored to work for him.

As he made his way around the city, people of different species paid him no mind. It was as if he was invisible to them, almost insignificant, and it was starting to annoy him. "Fight!" He heard someone yell. It wasn't unusual for many fights to form in this planet. Suddenly he was pulled away by a large crowd that didn't appear to notice his existence, as they ran towards where the fight was taking place.

Maximus hated being pushed around and just when he thought he had enough and was about to put his light saber to good use, he noticed he had been pushed towards the front of the circle that formed around the two that were fighting. The battle caught his attention. There was a fox alien and a reptile. The fox looked very confident, maybe too confident, and the crocodile alien looked arrogant. It was as if the reptile was sure he could crush the fox in only few seconds without even trying.

"I'll give you one more chance to take back what you said and beg for mercy. I might not break all your bones if you do," the crocodile alien said.

"You should be the one begging for mercy, you low life lizard. I don't permit for anyone to insult my people or my allies without paying the price!" The fox, a kitsune type alien, didn't look one bit scared.

"You have guts, I'll give you that. Unfortunately your guts will be all over the ground by the time this is over. I'll say it again, all your race the kitsune and your little friends the lynx and tanuki are worthless weaklings!" The reptile repeated.

In a moment of anger, Maximus thought that if the kitsune didn't kick that lizard's tail, he would do it himself. Foxia and Tanukia had been allies of Lynxia and Splatty for a long time. The cat, fox and raccoon aliens had one of the most long lasting alliances in the universe and shared a certain pride.

The crocodile looked like he was about to attack. He raised both hands, formed into fists, but before he could punch the kitsune, he received an accurate kick to the stomach that left him without air. The kitsune kicked the back of his legs in a fast movement, making the reptile fall. "Changed your mind about begging for mercy?"

Maximus wondered how in the world that kitsune had managed to do that. He looked strong, but the reptile was twice as big as him, yet he made him fall so easily. Maybe he had a future minion standing right in front of him right now. Maximus continued watching the battle, just to make sure. If it turned out that the reptile only slipped, then the kitsune was in big trouble. He didn't notice the odd looks he was suddenly getting, as if the fight had gotten the crowd all worked up and they were looking around for a potential punching bag.

"I slipped, don't you dare think that had anything to do with you. You're nothing but a worthless insect! You're-" The crocodile didn't finish, a jump and punch in the neck was all it took to keep him quiet. He coughed and glared at the kitsune.

"Fight first, talk later. It's a common mistake for idiots like you," the kitsune sounded amused. The crocodile roared in anger. Good, the kitsune had him right where he wanted him. If he lost his concentration, he would lose the fight. The crocodile jumped at the kitsune, who ducked at the last moment. The crocodile alien went crashing into a dinosaur-like alien who was quite upset about it. While the crocodile and the dinosaur aliens fought, the kitsune slipped away from the crowd and Maximus followed him. The kitsune saw him and recognized him. "Hey, you're Maximus IQ. aren't you?"

"So you know who I am. I must be famous." Maximus let his ego get bigger by the second.

"Everyone's heard of you and a few other super villains, but the latest news I heard wasn't the best." The kitsune revealed as they walked away from the fight, no one cared to notice, since they were all too focused on the battle.

"What would that be?" Maximus was curious.

"I heard your army turned on you. Is that true?" The kitsune inquired.

"They'll pay for that," Maximus growled. "I'm looking for a new and better army right now. You could be one of my new minions. What's your name?"

"Kentarii, I'm traveling all over the universe learning many different skills and techniques. That's why I can't be your minion, I need to continue my training travels and besides, I kind of like the galactic guardians. Sorry, I'm not much of a villain," the kitsune explained.

"What? You dare to side with the galactic guardians?" Maximus was angry.

"Watch out for the tail!" Kentarii warned.

However, the warning made no sense to Maximus at first. "What?" Then he tripped, but he regained his balance quickly and didn't fall. "Idiot," turned around to see whose tail he tripped over.

It was a tall lizard-like alien with metallic scales that covered his entire body, forming a strong natural armor. He had four arms, a long tail, sharp looking claws and glowing red eyes with a thin yellow line in the middle. "It's that filthy insolent brat from Foxia," He spoke more to the aliens around him than to Kentarii. "This time he brought a little friend from Lynxia."

"I'm from Splatty actually," maybe it was the lack of sleep or the rush of sugar from all the ice-cream Maximus ate to pass the time while he couldn't sleep, but he was talking without thinking about the consequences of his words.

The lizard alien let out a high pitched laugh that made Maximus cover his ears immediately. "So you are as foolish as the Foxia trash?"

"You're the foolish one, Squeaky," Kentarii knew the lizard hated that nickname. "You're looking at a real live super villain right here. You show him who's boss, Maximus!" Kentarii gave Maximus a friendly pat on the back, almost making him fall forward. Maximus looked back and forth from Kentarii to the angry lizard alien the kitsune had nickname Squeaky. Sensing that Maximus wasn't so sure of himself anymore, Kentarii decided to say something before the lizard crushed them both. "C'mon, you looked like you wanted to rip my head off a second ago when I didn't become your minion. If you're brave enough to fight me, I'm sure you can beat Squeaky here, no problem."

"Of course I can! It's just not worth my time. I usually get my minions to do this kind of easy jobs." Maximus would have continued his speech, if not for the fact that a bright light caught his attention. The lizard breathed fire too? He quickly jumped out of the way and Kentarii jumped in the opposite direction.

"Running away, little lynx? You are a total coward. All of your kind are cowards. You're all worthless trash that should be eliminated from this universe!" The lizard would have continued with the insults if not because Maximus made him literally eat laser. With a well aimed shot, the laser hit his open mouth and got him to shut up. Of course, it didn't cause too much damage as it is to be expected from an alien that breathes fire.

"Fight first, talk later is good advice," Kentarii was amused. He knew very well that Maximus' high tech weapons were much more efficient than anything they used on this planet.

"Shut up! I'll deal with you later," the lizard angrily yelled. "As for you, I'll finish you off first. I'm surprised you're still standing there. Anyone else would have already ran away, but I guess you're more stupid."

"Why should I run away when I'm going to win?" Maximus shot many lasers at the lizard. The lasers bounced off his scales and Maximus quickly jumped out of the way. He was thankful that felines were naturally agile; otherwise he probably would have been killed by his own lasers.

"I don't think you should be playing right now. You do know how to beat him, right? They all have a specific weak point," Kentarii revealed.

"Yes, I know how to beat him, but what is your opinion?" Maximus had no idea how to win this battle. Right now, he thought his best chance would be to run for his life, but he wasn't going to do that. It could be the lack of sleep, the rush of sugar, or something else, but Maximus had enough.

"Actually, I have no idea how to beat this guy. I always run away when I think it's the healthier thing to do. I was hoping you could figure it out so I could do the same thing when ever I found one of those mean aliens in my travels," Kentarii was so calm about it that Maximus thought he was only kidding.

"Sounds good to me, I'll see what I can do," Maximus agreed only because Kentarii's overly calm attitude towards the situation made him think the kitsune had everything under control. If he couldn't figure out a way to beat the lizard, Kentarii would step in at the last moment. Not that Maximus would ever admit to needing help. 

Jumping out of the way of the lizard's fire blasts clearly wasn't helping to make any progress, though it kept Maximus alive. Lasers were out of the question and if lasers didn't work, then a light saber probably wouldn't work either. One detail Maximus noticed was that the laser was more powerful when it came back at him than when he originally fired it and that the scales changed color after receiving the impact. Maybe he could send the lasers back at him before he could recover. Maximus wasn't sure if it would work or not, but he recalled doing something similar in a video game and it worked then.

Kentarii watched as Maximus ran away and stopped at a good distance then fired his laser gun. He wasn't sure what the lynx was trying to do, but it looked as if he had an idea. As it happened before, the lasers bounced back towards Maximus and he used his light saber to send them back at the lizard like a bat. The lizard received the impact being taken by surprise and fell back. 

"So that's how it's done," Kentarii observed. Now that he knew how it worked, he would have to come back and kick his tail after he recovered from the fight with Maximus, just to see if he could do it too. Now that Kentarii knew how it worked it didn't look all that hard. 

Angry that a lynx had discovered his weakness, the lizard got up as fast as he could and started shooting fireballs at Maximus. Maximus ran in a circle around him avoiding the fire. But the fire hit a few aliens it wasn't meant to hit. Soon, those who were watching the battle became a part of it as they all jumped to the attack against the lizard. 

"That's the problem around here, they never let you finish a fight in peace," Kentarii didn't notice the irony in his words.

"It's too bad; because it was kind of fun. So was that what you had in mind?" Maximus asked as they walked away from the action.

"Like I said, I didn't know how to win," Kentarii admitted. At Maximus's surprised look he added, "what is it? Are you wondering why I was so calm even if I could very well be standing in front of my doom? Well if I'm going to die, I might as well be brave about it." Kentarii spoke with such a calm and casual tone that it was beginning to bother Maximus. "This comes from being in near death experiences so often."

"Then you had no idea and if I haven't figured it out then..." Maximus didn't finish, he didn't want to think about it.

"We would have both probably died. Squeaky looked very angry and I'm sure he wouldn't have let us escape, not after I dried his patience the other day," Kentarii admitted.

"Do you always go around picking fights with people bigger than you?" Maximus asked.

"That, my friend, is called being brave," Kentarii smiled.

"That, my minion, is called being suicidal," Maximus corrected.

"I still think it's bravery and I told you I can't be your minion, but I know where you can find some people that might be interested in the job. Last time I was there, they said they wanted to be part of some sort of army, but the galactic guardians had too many regulations for their taste. I'm sure they'll find being part of a super villain's army very interesting." Kentarii revealed, as they walked into the areas where the ships were.

"That sounds like it's worth looking into. What are the coordinates to this place you speak of?" Maximus asked.

"I'll tell you if you give me a lift. My ship was destroyed and I was planning to buy a new one with the money from one of the tournaments they often celebrate in this planet. But it would be a lot easier if you give me a ride since I left my second ship in that planet, then I won't have to buy a new one, I don't like the selection they had here anyway and space taxis don't stop on this planet." Kentarii offered.

"Very well, you have a deal," Maximus agreed and they both headed inside his ship.

xoxox xox xoxox

The trip to the next planet wasn't too long at top speed. They landed near a large mountain. The planet was a little dark, but not too dark. The light of a sun could be seen in the sky, but it wasn't enough to create the bright sunny days of other planets. "We're here. You'll find your possible new army inside the cave, but I should warn you, they won't take anyone's orders," Kentarii warned.

"I'm the great Maximus IQ, they will be honored to work for me!" Maximus replied, as they entered the cave. "How much further are they?" The cave had many torches on the walls, burning with blue fire. It was obvious there were people here, since several items were left all over the place, supplies, weapons and random things.

"Usually I don't have to go too deep into the cave before someone comes to greet me. How strange that we haven't seen anyone yet," Kentarii sounded concerned for the first time. "I have a bad feeling about this, it's too quiet here and usually by now it's possible to hear the echo of Samsumo's bad jokes."

"So you're saying something could have happened to them?" Maximus thought the cave was eerie, but he tried to ignore that fact. It appeared that he would have something more important to worry about anyway. "Aren't they supposed to be expert warriors or something?"

"They are not like the ones we saw on that planet," Kentarii admitted. "They are not as big, but their skill makes them stronger, plus they are all excellent pilots, unlike those idiots who have more chances of crashing than landing."

"Even better, I was going to look for warriors then look for pilots, but if I can find them all in the same place my army will be complete faster. That is unless they already left." Maximus gave Kentarii an annoyed glare.

"I somehow doubt it. They wouldn't leave their hide out without taking all this stuff with them." They reached a large cave room with two tunnels. "To the right is the rest of the hide out and to the left is the area where the ships are kept. There's a tunnel large enough to get them outside from there, but it's sealed and can only be opened from the inside, which is why we couldn't land in the hangar area. Let's head to the right and see if they're sleeping or something. But it's very unusual for them to go to sleep without leaving a guard," Kentarii's concern increased despite his carefree nature.

Kentarii and Maximus journeyed deeper into the cave. The torches of unnatural blue fire reflected their shadows on the cave walls. It was so quiet you'd think the entire universe had been left without any sound, if only it was this quiet when Maximus wanted it to be quiet. Then again, too much silence could be unsettling.

The east side of the cave appeared to go on forever, with endless maze-like corridors. Up ahead, there was a bright light and the atmosphere felt hot. Approaching the end of the tunnel, Maximus saw that the source of the bright light was the burning lava below the cliff in which he stood. A rope bridge that looked quite unsteady connected the two cliffs together.

He watched as Kentarii continued walking just as he would do if he were stepping on solid ground. A board broke under his feet and he had to hold on to the two ropes on the sides to avoid falling into the deadly boiling lava below. As if it never happened, he pulled himself up to the next board on the bridge. This one appeared to be solid in comparison to the last.

Kentarii continued crossing the bridge while Maximus watched from the cliff. As far as Maximus knew, Kentarii wasn't too sane. That or he had an unhealthy obsession with danger, or maybe both.

The kitsune stopped when he was about two thirds to the other side and looked back at Maximus. He smiled amused, seeing that the super villain was still standing there. He waved his hand signaling for Maximus to follow, but the lynx only shook his head, he was not going to step on that rope bridge. The bridge looked as if it was going to collapse any second, yet Kentarii stood on it as if it was a solid a rock. He had almost fallen not too long ago, yet not even that appeared to concern him as much as the silence did.

Maybe this is what people call a true adventurer. He lived to travel all over the universe, having one adventure after the other. Every day he lived it as if it was his last and with this behavior it very well could be. Kentarii crossed his arms and began to tap his foot impatiently, as if he didn't plan to move from where he stood until Maximus began to cross the bridge.

Maximus looked at Kentarii then at the hot lava below. He didn't even get too close to the cliff just in case. He could feel the heat of the lava as if it was inches away, even if it was about fifty feet below the cliff. The lava flowed under the rocks of the cliff and went underground. A few large rocks floated in the river of boiling lava, but that didn't make him feel any better about crossing the bridge. The lava displayed a blend of hot colors. There was red, orange and a little yellow when the fire balls jumped from the lake. Burning rocks and balls of fire came close to reaching the old rope bridge, which would surly be turned to ashes very quickly if it caught on fire.

Maximus wondered if Kentarii would scream at the moment that he fell or laugh because he was about to have the death of a true adventurer. 'Such a fool,' Maximus thought.

"Maximus, I'm waiting," Kentarii finally broke the silence that had been present since before they reached this fiery chamber. "I'm not going to stand here all day," he added with less patience than before.

"Of course you're not going to stand there all day," Maximus replied sarcastically. "That sad excuse for a bridge is going to give out and you'll fall into the lava!"

"No it won't, it's perfectly safe," to prove this, Kentarri jumped three times on the same spot. "You see? It's safe, c'mon let's not stand here all day!"

"I'm not going," Maximus suddenly had a strange feeling, as if there was some one coming up behind him. Kentarii had the strangest smile on his face.

Maximus blinked and looked behind him. There was a kitsune girl with light pink fur and green eyes. "You should tell your friend to get off that bridge. There is another way to cross the cliff. A cave tunnel that leads around it can be found not too far from here. That way is a little bit longer, but I'm certain it's a lot safer."

"There's another way?" Maximus was a little surprised to hear this, but he thought he shouldn't be. "Why didn't you say so, Kentarii? You fool! Must you always do things the hard way? I knew this bridge was a bad idea, that's why I didn't try crossing it. Get back over here before it breaks you idiot. Kentarii? Are you listening?" Maximus didn't quite understand what had gotten into the adventurer. He continued to stand there with the most idiotic look on his face.

The kitsune girl giggled and waved at him. Kentarii waved back and started walking, not watching his steps. It was as if he had no idea where he was anymore. Maximus looked from Kentarii to the girl, back and forth. "Great, two idiots in love. What about my army?"

"Hey, Maxi, aren't you going to tell me who this pretty lady is?" Kentarii's smile couldn't possibly get bigger.

He reminded Maximus of that time when Iciclea still needed the montigo berries to look young and she used so many that her face was stretched into a permanent smile. "I don't know her," Maximus snapped, but it didn't look like anyone was listening, so much for getting any information about his soon to be army out of Kentarii.

Maximus turned back to the tunnel that led him there. The girl said there was another way across near by, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. He had only walked a few steps when he heard Kentarii yell, "medusa!"

Maximus looked back for a moment and saw the shadow of someone coming. The head of this person had long things that moved around. Snakes? He knew the way to defeat a medusa was to make her look at her own reflection, but he didn't have a mirror so he ran as fast as he could. Of all the days to forget to bring a mirror despite being a narcissist, why did it have to be today? Maybe there was a mirror in this cave or another exit. Which ever he found first would do.

Maximus turned a corner and looked back. Since he just turned and he couldn't hear the medusa too close by, if she was still chasing him he would see her shadow before he saw her. As long as he didn't look at her, he wouldn't turn to stone. He was in such a hurry he ran into someone. He immediately closed his eyes just in case the medusa had taken a shortcut and came up in front of him.

"Are you alright?" The voice belonged to a woman, but he wasn't certain if she was the medusa or not. It's not like he could run around with his eyes closed. The floor of the cave was irregular with many stones. He would trip and fall a million times if he didn't watch where he was going.

Maximus looked at the ground and slowly opened his eyes. She was standing right in front of him. He looked forward a little bit. He would be alright as long as he didn't look at her head. Then he saw two feet and the end of a golden tail beside them. This was not the medusa. Maximus breathed relieved and looked at the person in front of him. She was a lynx girl with golden fur and bright blue eyes. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"A medusa," Maximus explained.

"You saw a medusa? But how can that be? If you saw a medusa then you would be a stone statue by now," The lynx girl replied.

"I didn't see her. Someone else saw her. I heard him and when I looked back I saw her shadow. She was following me," Maximus looked back at the way he came but there was no one there.

"It appears that you lost her," the lynx girl spoke. "But if she's still here I think we should leave. There's a village not too far from here. Near the village there is a magic potion shop where you can find a cure for those who had been turned to stone. I'm sure your friend you say saw the medusa will recover with that."

"Do you know the way out?" Maximus asked.

"Yes, I'll show you the way I came. By the way my name is Galathia, what's yours?" She asked sweetly.

"Maximus," he followed her around the cave.

"It's nice to meet you," she gave him a friendly smile which hid an evil grin. 'Foolish mortal, I like to play around with my victims a little before turning them to stone. Your stupid friend looked like such an idiot I had to eliminate him quickly. But maybe you're not so smart either after all,' Galathia thought.

"It's nice to meet you too," Maximus gave her the best fake smile he could manage. 'I'll play along for now until I find a mirror. Stupid Medusa, she changed her appearance but she still has that bracelet,' Maximus thought. He remembered that the shadow of the medusa had many snakes, but one was shorter than the others, as if it was cut off. Maximus had heard something about it before, if a medusa could remove one of her snakes, make it bite its tail then turn it into stone, she could wear it as a bracelet or necklace and be immune to her own reflection, that must be what gave her the advantage, not many knew of that legend. Now all he needed to do was get that bracelet off her and find a mirror.

The next area of the cave was very dark. There were no blue fire torches, but Maximus could still see well enough. He saw what appeared to be a platform for a large torch. Another thing he noticed was water on the floor possibly, from a river or lake that passed above the cave in the surface. 

"It's so dark in here," Galathia sounded a bit frightened, but it was all an act.

'She may look like a lynx but she's not a true shape shifter,' Maximus thought. Clearly she couldn't see in the darkness as well as a real lynx could. "I'll hold your hand so you don't trip on anything."

"That would be nice thank you," Galathia agreed. 

Maximus took her hand and quickly pulled off the snake bracelet. He tossed a little Maximus shaped lighter at the large torch then threw the bracelet into the fire and closed his eyes. 

"You knew all along didn't you?" Galathia yelled angrily as she changed back into her true form. Maximus backed away and tripped, falling on the floor. Galathia was forced to look down in order to look directly at him and saw her reflection on the water.

Maximus stayed perfectly still with his eyes closed. Everything was quiet, but for all he knew the medusa could be staring at him right now, waiting for him to open his eyes. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He didn't feel like there was danger anymore. 

It was as if he could sense he was safe now, but just to be sure he reached forward and touched cold stone. He opened his eyes to find the ugliest statue he had ever seen in his life. He quickly moved away from the petrified creature. She may not be able to turn anyone to stone while she was a stone statue herself, but she was still something right out of a nightmare.

Maximus noticed that behind the large torch there was another cave. He walked to the end of that tunnel and found hundreds of stone statues. So that's where Kentarii's friends were. The stone that covered them began to break and they started to return to normal. Apparently turning the medusa into stone was enough to get them back to normal. 

Kentarii soon returned, a little upset that he had fallen for the medusa's trick, women were his weakness, even if ironically he thought girls had cooties until he finished high school. Of course Maximus didn't mean to do something good. He had to defeat the medusa, otherwise he would be a stone statue and stone was not worthy of him. If he had to be a statue, he would be a golden statue. 

Tired from all that happened, Maximus decided to return to the lair along with his new minions. Kentarri's friends, who were stone statues before, decided to follow Maximus after recognizing him as the one who freed them of the medusa's curse. He knew his past minions wouldn't like how quickly he replaced them and would probably come back, so his army would be twice as big. Albeit Kentarii continued his travels, he would sometimes come by to see how everyone was doing and was willing to go on a few secret missions for Maximus.

xoxox xox xoxox

Planet 05: Pac-Robo-Betty

Noah smiled as Betty arrived. It had been several months after his birthday and Betty had spent little to no time with him. She was his best friend, but sometimes he wondered if she thought of him as her best friend as well.

The first thing Noah noticed as Betty walked was the way she walked. Her steps were a little unnatural, almost mechanical, like a robot that needed some oil. A few clicks were heard as she stopped in front of him and her eyes focused on him like a camera recording his every move. But that was silly really, this was Betty an average human girl with a bit of a disappearance problem, but a human none the less.

"Greetings Noah," she spoke in a voice like Betty's but far more mechanical and monotonous. It was as if the phrase had been the product of joining two recordings, each one containing each word. The 'greetings' voice was played first then there was a short barely noticeable pause, followed by a name, spoken in a slightly different tone, as if the phrase wasn't a continuous voice but two fragments of the same voice. Not once did she blink as she continued to stare at him with her green eyes open wide, waiting for his answer.

Noah felt as if he was being watched by someone other than Betty. He felt as if everything from his nervous shifting, to the rapid rate of his heartbeats was being recorded. Sure Betty was looking right at him, but surely she couldn't perceive him in that much detail. Then why did he feel like she could? He had never felt this uneasy around her before. Her gaze was so cold and distant, as if she was there but at the same time she wasn't. It was like she was staring right through him.

"Hi Betty," Noah finally managed to push the words out of his mouth. He didn't want to look like an idiot, but he couldn't help it but to feel strange in an unpleasant way.

"Our schedule indicates," Betty's voice, or rather a voice similar to hers but not quite exactly like hers, was heard speaking sweetly. "Go to the arcade," the next phrase was spoken in a sour tone, separating the phrase in three segments 'go to', 'the' and 'arcade'. The word 'the' was hastily added before 'arcade' as if some computer program watching over her verbal grammar had suddenly determined it was necessary. "The next task is," she paused after that. Her voice sounded quite bored. The next statement came out full of anger. "Go to movies, beep the movies." Apparently whatever corrected the grammar of her spoken words didn't process the sentence fast enough that time.

Noah nodded slowly. He was feeling quite tempted to run away. He didn't know why but Betty suddenly gave him a very bad feeling, unlike the pleasant feeling he usually got from her. He shook his head and told himself he was hallucinating. This was Betty for crying out loud, he had known her since they were in elementary school. "Right..." He desperately wanted to start a conversation but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

They walked quietly until they reached the arcade. Robo-Betty continued to follow Noah without saying a single word, which he found very strange. Maybe she just didn't want to be there. That would explain why she was always disappearing. "Betty, if you didn't want to come with me, you could have said something."

"Request accepted, something," Robo-Betty mistakenly assumed he was asking her to say 'something'. A few noises that resembled R2-D2 from Star Wars were heard as her processor reanalyzed his words. "Processing answer," there was a pause and her monotonous voice drastically changed to sweet. "I want to be here." After another pause his name was added at the end in a tone full of rage, "Noah."

Noah couldn't help it but to take a step back. Betty's robotic replica tilted her head down with an odd noise like metal clashing against metal and her eyes focused on the floor as if measuring the distance between them. She then took a step forward of the exact same length as the step Noah had taken backwards.

Trying to keep his cool and ignore the feeling of impending doom that wouldn't stop looming over him, Noah looked towards one of the video game arcade machines. "Why don't you try this one? I got plenty of tokens." He inserted a token on the machine, activating the game.

"Analyzing request, request accepted, please input the secondary information," Robo-Betty spoke with her monotonous and emotionless robotic voice. X-5 definitely sounded a million times better than that prototype, regardless of the modifications that had been made.

"Um... do your best and win?" Noah was unsure. She was talking in the strangest way. He wondered if this was all part of a joke he missed or if maybe he was the joke.

"Mission accepted," Betty placed her hands on the controls with more machine sounds. She started playing the game. The pupils of her eyes occasionally grew bigger and smaller as if going in and out of focus. Her skills in the game Pac-Man were amazing, too precise to be human. A crowd of people gathered around her, watching as she cleared level after level.

Noah could have sworn he saw a red glow in her eyes as if she was looking into the codes that composed the game and quickly predicting the ghosts' next move and coming up with a perfect counter move. Not once did those ghosts come near Pac-Man.

Everyone was amazed, even for the most experienced players it was a race for survival full of close calls, but to her, it was so easy the ghosts might as well not be there. She was making it look like the maze was as simple as a straight line of power pills. The crowd continued to gather, becoming bigger level after level. The speed of the game increased, but Robo-Betty appeared to be unaffected by it.

xoxox xox xoxox 

Unknown to them, far away, someone else was playing a similar video game. A yellow circle with a pair of yellow triangles for ears, dotted eyes and an 's' shaped line for a tail, dashed across a tri-dimensional maze, projected by a hologram in the room. Ghosts in every color of the rainbow, save for yellow so as to not cause confusion, gave chase to the yellow protagonist of the game.

The ghosts looked like a sheet thrown over a floating circle. Their dotted eyes were drawn angry by the lines above them tilted towards the middle. They also had two little triangles atop their heads as ears and an 's' shaped line sticking out of the bottom of the cloud like shape at the end of the sheets.

The yellow circular creature opened and closed its mouth as it rapidly floated around the maze, unable to fly but a few inches from the maze's floor, certainly not enough to jump over its tall confining walls.

Above that hologram there was a 2D map of the maze, showing the position of the player's character and the ghostly enemies. It was easier to follow the map which reassembled Earth's style of Pac-Man than to attempt to follow the 3D maze not knowing when the yellow ball of hunger would turn a corner and come face to face with a ghost.

In a desperate dash, the yellow creature ate the last few cookies in that particular corridor of the large maze. The cookies were also circular with two triangles outlining the shape of the protagonist minus the tail. They had a pair of chocolate chips for eyes. "Almost there," Maximus pushed the joystick forward to its limits.

"Watch out your evilness!" Minimus called out. He had spotted a blue ghost heading right for the yellow cat like ball Maximus was controlling.

"There's a ball of yarn up ahead, I can make it!" Maximus pushed the joy stick forward even harder. The stick was already at its limits and it would soon break if he kept forcing it like that.

"You're going to lose!" Minimus's angry face sounded as if he hoped Maximus lost. Then again, he would probably get blamed for it and pay the consequences.

xoxox xox xoxox 

Even further away, the real Atomic Betty was in a similar jam. "This guiding system should lead us out of the castle maze before it collapses. There is a fifty two point three percent chance that we'll make it out alive," X-5 informed.

"Only fifty two point three, that's it? We're not going to make it out alive! I wish I had eaten more while I still had the chance!" Sparky cried.

"Calm down Sparky, we'll make it out of here. X-5, activate the guiding system of the castle maze," Atomic Betty ordered.

By connecting himself to the main computer system of the maze castle, X-5 activated a holographic system that showed the way to the exit. The white holographic dots were bright against the dull gray background of the walls floors and ceiling. The castle was like a combination between medieval and futuristic, having the gray brick look of a medieval castle, but the bricks were made of metal instead of stone. Their polished shiny surface gave the castle a futuristic look. "We need to follow the dots."

"Just like Pac-Man," Atomic Betty commented. The big exception was that Pac-Man never really found a way out of the mazes, he only ate all of the pills and ended up in another maze in an endless loop, or so she thought. The theory at the arcade was that the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was truly endless since no one had been able to last long enough to see it end after it got really fast, no one until that day.

Sparky took Betty's Pac-Man comment a little too literally and tried to eat the holographic dots. "At least in Pac-Man there are little white candies and in Pac-Cat there are cookies."

A screen on the wall came on by itself showing a close up of Dr. Cerebral. "You may have stopped my plans but you'll never get out of there on time. You'll be crushed by the maze castle. Don't think that simply because you found a guide in those little holographic dots it assures you'll make it out. There are many traps waiting up ahead. You'll never make it out on time and I have already made my escape!" The screen changed to show a count down. They only had a few minutes to return to the Starcruiser and leave the castle which was floating in space and was about to blow up.

xoxox xox xoxox

On Earth, Noah tapped Betty's shoulder. "Betty, it's time to go to the movies." He was amazed by her skills playing Pac-Man but didn't want to spend the entire day standing there squished by the crowd that was trying to see her play.

"Must accomplish mission," Robo-Betty repeated in a monotone. She was programmed not to abandon any task until it had been properly completed and he had told her to win. 

"But Betty, we'll miss the movie," Noah insisted.

"Shut up kid, you heard her," another boy voiced.

"Yeah, let us watch!" A girl added. Clearly, they rather have Betty continue playing than leave. They all wanted to know how long she would last.

Noah sighed and let them be. He watched the screen and wondered how long the arcade game was and if it was truly endless.

xoxox xox xoxox 

Atomic Betty kicked a robot that had attacked them, creating a deep dent on its metal armor. "The path is clear let's hurry!" They only took a few steps forwards when the floor beneath their feet began to shake. They jumped forward as the floor behind them opened up revealing a hidden compartment under it. From under the floor, a large laser cannon was brought to their level. Immediately, it opened fire, missing them narrowly as they turned a corner.

More combat robots were waiting ahead, blocking their path as their time to escape continued to run out. "Captain, we only have one minute left to escape," X-5 pointed out.

"We're going to die!" Sparky started to panic again.

Betty herself was quite worried but kept her cool. They had escaped from dangerous situations in the past and they could do it again. "We'll make it out, we have to make it out and we will!" 

xoxox xox xoxox 

"Your evilness, you have to turn back!" Minimus switched from one face to another, unable to decide which one to keep in the moment of tension.

"I'm almost there, I'm going to make it!" Maximus kept saying over and over as he pushed the joy stick harder and it began to crack.

The yellow cat-like ball known as Pac-Cat reached the red ball of yarn a split second before the ghost reached the protagonist. The yarn magically wrapped itself around the yellow ball turning into a cape and mask. The super powered feline yellow ball, bit the ghost, swallowing it in one gulp and chased after its ghostly companions, who were right behind the first. It ate one after the other and the last cookie was up ahead. Suddenly the power of the ball of yarn ran out and the cape and mask disappeared, but it didn't matter. The ghosts would take a moment to recover and the last cookie in the entire maze was straight ahead.

"You're going to make it, your evilness!" Minimus cheered, at least he wouldn't get hit on the head because Maximus lost.

xoxox xox xoxox

"We have thirty seconds left to escape before the maze castle explodes," X-5 announced as their battle continued. The seconds passed quickly and they were still fighting robots, trying to make their way out. "Fifteen seconds!"

"There's the Starcruiser!" Atomic Betty called. They rushed into their ship, hoping that they could get far enough from the explosion.

The Starcruiser took off at full speed, leaving the maze castle behind. The force of the explosion shook the ship violently. "Engage stabilizers," Atomic Betty reminded and soon the ship was stabilized and all was at peace. "Dr. Cerebral might have escaped, but his new base and all the weapons in it were destroyed."

"I knew we would make it. I didn't doubt it for a second," Sparky was extra hungry after the adventure. "All that excitement made me hungry!"

"Everything makes you hungry," X-5 concluded. Another mission had been accomplished.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Maximus' lair, the joy stick the super villain held snapped, broken off the base of the control and the yellow ball on the video game hologram he was playing came to a sudden stop. "No, don't stop now! The ghosts turned into floating eyes, but they'll be back! They'll come back to eat you!" Of course the cat yellow ball didn't move. "C'mon you have to move, I've never been this close to winning before!" It was no use. The broken control didn't have any effects on the game.

Soon the ghosts returned, fully recovered and ate the yellow feline ball, a few pixels away from the very last cookie that would have marked a victory. The words 'Game Over' appeared in 3D on the hologram as the maze disappeared and the rest of the room was left in darkness. "I lost... After all that hard work I came so close and yet I still lost. Is it because I'm evil? Does that mean I can never win at this game? Why is it that I can win against myself in Atomic Betty's video game, but I can never beat a bunch of edible ghosts at Pac-Cat?"

"I knew you played her game." An angry glare from Maximus made it quite clear to Minimus that it was best to pretend he didn't hear that part. "It's too bad you didn't win at Pac-Cat your evilness," Minimus corrected himself. He switched to his angry face, which looked amused by the unexpected turn of events. "I knew you would lose one way or another." To try to avoid the inevitable hit to the head that would come, Minimus quickly switched faces again and added. "You were so close to winning that next time you'll win for sure."

"I wanted to win this time! This is all your fault!" Maximus did not stop hitting Minimus on the head with the base of the broken control until it fell apart completely.

xoxox xox xoxox

On Earth, the robotic Betty, actually finished the Pac-Man game, which wasn't endless after all. Pac-Man, his wife Mrs. Pac-Man and their two children Pac-Jr. and Pac-Baby, danced around the screen as people clapped and cheered. "Now I must," she paused "go to the movies."

"The movie is over," Noah informed. "Although I have to admit, winning the Pac-Man game everyone thought was endless is pretty cool. Next time we go to a movie, let's go straight there, okay? C'mon we better leave, it's late." The sun had long since sunk into the horizon and the stars shone brightly in the sky, as the boy and the robot walked back to the home of the girl who was in space, on her way to Earth. Robo-Betty did not answer. It was as if she felt very tired, exhausted, as if her battery needed to be recharged.

The Starcruiser reached Earth and beamed up the robot as it walked towards Betty's house along with Noah. The earthling boy kept on trying to have the friendly conversation he wasn't given the chance to speak during their time at the arcade. For a moment he glanced at where Betty used to be and saw nothing but empty space, while on the ship, Betty stepped into the glass where the beam would activate.

"See ya tomorrow chief!" Sparky activated the beam and sent Betty back to Earth. 

"Who are you looking for Noah?" Noah jumped, hearing Betty's sudden voice behind him. At least he didn't get that odd feeling from her anymore, as if she wasn't herself. He decided not to mention it.

"I was looking for you... Never mind. You certainly earned a name for yourself today at the arcade by winning at Pac-Man. Everyone thought the game didn't have an end," Noah commented.

The robot had actually won at Pac-Man? Betty also thought the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was designed to be endless, like Columns. Another Galactic Guardian had once proven that the arcade Columns was in fact endless. "That was fun," Betty pretended she was there. "The movie was good too. I had a lot of fun today."

"The movie? What movie?" Noah asked. "You spent all this time in the arcade remember? That Pac-Man game is really long."

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Before she made another mistake, Betty thought it was best to leave. "It's kind of late I should go inside. Thanks for walking me home." Betty dashed into her house leaving a very confused Noah standing on the sidewalk. 

"Sometimes she's so strange it's like she's not from Earth." Noah turned in the direction to his house and started walking.

End

Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty.

**Author's Note:**

> Fantasy Bit: http://mikari.piratesboard.net
> 
> Deviant Art: http://mikaristar.deviantart.com
> 
> Fanart Central: http://fanart-central.net/user/AzureMikari/


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